Many vehicles and/or landscaping machines are utilized in locations that are a significant distance from one's place of residence. For instance, off-road vehicles, such as all-terrain vehicles (ATV) and motocross motorcycles, as merely examples, as well as riding lawnmowers and golf carts, again, as merely examples, are enjoyed and/or used in such a fashion. Such off-road vehicles are typically recreational and are not usually permitted on public roadways. As well, riding lawnmowers and golf carts, and the like, are primarily used for work purposes and are not suitable for roadway driving, either. As such, ordinary circumstances have dictated that a user of either type of vehicle must transport such devices to and from one's place of residence to the desired location for recreational or work use. As such, again, in typical fashion, the user will utilize a trailer or truck bed for such transportation with the target vehicle properly attached thereto in some fashion to allow for secured transportation thereof. Additionally, however, such target vehicles are subjected to possible jostling and other undesirable jarring movements during transportation, particularly when positioned on a trailer including inflatable tires and/or suspect suspension systems, such that the vehicle itself may be susceptible to detachment from a rigid coupler assembly present within the trailer hitch connecting the subject vehicle to the transporting trailer. This undesirable movement may cause the subject transported vehicle to detach and thus potentially fall from the trailer itself. To compensate for such a possibility, typical users include straps to further secure the subject vehicle to the base trailer structure. Although such additional items may provide greater security in terms of unwanted vehicle movement, unfortunately, the implementation of such straps is time-consuming and, with a relatively heavy subject vehicle in place requiring further secured tie-down, the straps themselves must exhibit a significant tensile strength inherently to accord the needed resiliency to overcome any coupler assembly detachment during transport, particularly when the transporting trailer is traveling at high speeds over highways or maneuvering rough terrain itself (as examples). Likewise, such straps, cords, ropes, etc., must also be utilized properly in terms of user involvement in wrapping, applying, and tightening such items for resultant reliable connections as well. As such, user error (through lack of proper application, etc., such as doing so at too quick a pace, for instance) may complicate rather than properly thwart any possible coupler assembly detachment occurrences. Hence, although such strap use is a typical manner of providing such extra security to transported vehicles, their utilization is frowned upon due to the time and care required for proper and reliable use to take place.
Furthermore, such standard hitch devices require proper alignment with the connecting component located on the target vehicle. If the vehicle is brought into even a slightly skewed alignment in such a situation, the user runs the risk of the rigid hitch attachment displacing due to jostling or other like results during transport. Detachment may lead to catastrophic failure of the hitch attachment, which may lead to unwanted movement of the vehicle from the trailer hitch altogether. Alternatively, the user may need to realign the target vehicle in such a manner, thus requiring multiple attempts at proper attachment in such a manner. Such a potential time-consuming, and still questionable alignment result, is inefficient and potential unsafe as it is. One manner of correcting for such an issue is the utilization of a winch to bring the target vehicle in direct and proper alignment with the hitch assembly. Although such a device may be more reliable than simply maneuvering a target vehicle manually into alignment, such a device requires further manpower and time to attach and ensure the target vehicle itself remains proper directed until close enough to attach to the hitch assembly in question. To date, however, there have been no trailer hitch devices that allowed for manual alignment with substantially universal reliability in proper alignment between the target vehicle connector and the target hitch assembly itself.
Past trailer hitch device and assembly improvements have included add-on structures to the rear portions of trailers with braces that connect with portions of a target vehicle to prevent roll-back possibilities during use. Examples include U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0247836, to Erb et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 7,588,401, to Latham. Additionally, other devices include add-on assemblies to the front portions of trailers that include differing connection means for securing wheels or other target components in place during transportation, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 7,077,004 to Denman, Jr. Similar prior art devices that include such rigid assemblies for hitch connections include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,050,737 to Russell, 4,671,713 to Lenkman, 6,139,235 to Vander Koy et al., 4,580,935 to Treihaft, 6,382,891 to Bellis, Jr., 5,749,685 to Hain, and 6,036,417 to Weaver. No devices have been provided, however, that compensate for the rigors of travel over rough terrain or potentially harsh roadways such that bumps and potholes are taken into effect in terms of the potential for detachment from a rigid connection device, as well as exhibiting versatility in terms of connection heights. As such, the prior art assemblies are all directed to rigid devices that are not designed to move in response to any bumps, etc., to permit some degree of movement relative to imperfect roadways incurred during transport. Likewise, the state of the art trailer hitches do not permit, as well, alignment of the target vehicle at more than one point along a perpendicular axis from the direction of the direction of the vehicle itself during alignment and attachment therewith. In other words, the prior art trailer hitch assemblies permit one single point of attachment along such an axis which, as alluded to above, may create difficulties and inefficiencies to the user through the need to realign the target vehicle properly to that single axis point. Although some devices, such as that provided in the Denman, Jr., patent listed above, may allow for vertical variability in terms of connection points for a subject vehicle, there are no devices that permit both horizontal and vertical versatility along those lines.
Lastly, the prior art devices are all directed to trailer hitch assemblies that exhibit a single type of available connection component for a subject vehicle (such as a ball joint capture means complementary to a ball joint extension present on such a target vehicle). With the potential for multiple vehicle types that may be transported at different times, or perhaps simultaneously, the lack of multiple connection devices, either of the same structure, or of different configurations, limit the potential utility of such standard trailer hitches. Hence, there is much left in this specific area of art to provide users with trailer hitches of greater versatility and better reliability, simultaneously. To date, however, and unfortunately, the types of hitch assemblies available to such a person are extremely limited.